Hot or not? Iceland style.

Photo by and courtesy of S. Stefnisson

The end of summer draws near.  Temperatures fall and the dust settles around Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano.  Far away from the white hot glare of the media, Iceland’s president is demonstrating a flying lesson; every event provides an opportunity to learn.

Aviation blogger as "mom"

My excuses for talking like a "mom" to airlines and passengers.

OK, so I am a mom, four times over actually, so that puts my recent comments on Portland's KPAM radio show in perspective.

This ongoing dispute between airlines and their customers sounds familiar, too familiar, like the sound of siblings fighting. What I don't hear is the sound of either side trying to understand the position of the other.

Children and airplane crashes - the flip side of letting things slide

Photos courtesy NTSB

It doesn’t take a professional to see what happened to the airplane carrying former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens and his traveling companions earlier this month. TheDeHavilland DHC-3  flew into rising terrain. What happened is often not too difficult to answer. Why it happened is where it gets sticky.

Blond, baby-faced poster boy for what's wrong with air travel

What’s the difference between an airplane engine and the folks onboard?

The engine stops whining when the plane is parked at the gate.

This is true for passengers and crew members alike. And if you don’t believe me, just take a look at JetBlue flight attendant Steve Slater, the mother of all poster boys for air travelers’ frustration. 

Journalists fail air disaster drill test

There's a blaring irony in the false news story issued from Zimbabwe yesterday that a Boeing 767 had crashed in Harare after having been hijacked from London. Airport authorities at Harare International created the fiction as part of a disaster drill using realistic conditions.

Air passengers vote with their wallets on airline fees

Watching the ongoing hostility between airlines and passengers is like rubber necking at an accident scene. It’s fascinating and horrific at the same time, especially if you love aviation and travel as much as I do.